Opposition losing steam in Zimbabwe

Despite leader's efforts, election standoff continues

Donna Bryson, Associated Press

Published 4:00 am, Friday, April 18, 2008

Photo: SIPHIWE SIBEKO

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###Live Caption:Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, speaks during a radio interview at the studios in Johannesburg April 17, 2008. Zimbabwe's government on Thursday accused Tsvangirai of treason and of working with former colonial power Britain to topple President Robert Mugabe in recent elections. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko (SOUTH AFRICA)###Caption History:Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, speaks during a radio interview at the studios in Johannesburg April 17, 2008. Zimbabwe's government on Thursday accused Tsvangirai of treason and of working with former colonial power Britain to topple President Robert Mugabe in recent elections. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko (SOUTH AFRICA)###Notes:Movement for Democratic Change leader Tsvangirai speaks during a radio interview at the studios in Johannesburg###Special Instructions:0 less

###Live Caption:Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, speaks during a radio interview at the studios in Johannesburg April 17, 2008. Zimbabwe's government on Thursday accused ... more

Photo: SIPHIWE SIBEKO

Opposition losing steam in Zimbabwe

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Protests are fizzling at home, and the opposition leader's efforts to rally the world to the cause of democracy in Zimbabwe are being stymied by fellow Africans.

Morgan Tsvangirai - who has been beaten, accused of treason and nearly killed since founding Zimbabwe's main opposition movement in 1999 - wouldn't hazard a guess as to when the crisis over an election he says he won will be resolved.

If he knew who could persuade Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to step down, he said "certainly that person should be contacted immediately."

Tsvangirai was relaxed, even able to joke about reports from his homeland Thursday that Mugabe's regime considers him a traitor. But he is a man under considerable pressure.

Almost three weeks have passed since the presidential vote. No official results have been released, and the opposition, which says Tsvangirai won, accuses Mugabe of withholding the results to stay in power after a campaign that focused on Zimbabwe's shell-shocked economy.

There has been talk of a recount or a runoff. But Mugabe could simply continue to suppress the results and cling to power.

Human rights groups report increasing violence against Tsvangirai's supporters. Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights said this week its members had treated more than 150 cases of injuries consistent with assault and torture since the March 29 poll, including a rash of recent ones linked to a crackdown sparked by the opposition's call for a general strike.

The strike call was little heeded, both because few Zimbabweans can afford to miss even a day of work, and because police and militants loyal to Mugabe cracked down.

Tsvangirai said the labor protest "may have been an exhausted strategy." But he wasn't home to help his aides plot tactics. He has been traveling outside Zimbabwe for most of the period since the election and acknowledged his homeland was a dangerous place for him.

"There are rogue elements there who might take the law into their own hands," he said.

The former trade union leader said diplomacy, not fear, was the main reason he was abroad. He would not say when he would return, saying his priority now is mobilizing international pressure on Mugabe.

Tsvangirai's comments came the same day Zimbabwean state media reported allegations that the opposition leader was plotting an "illegal regime change" with former colonial ruler Britain.

Tsvangirai dismissed the treason charges and said accusations that he was plotting to overthrow the Mugabe regime were "outrageous."

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Mugabe's recent rule has been an "abomination" and urged Zimbabwe to release election results.

"It's time for Africa to step up" and denounce the government campaign of arrests and intimidation that followed the vote, she said. "Where is the concern from the African Union and from Zimbabwe's neighbors about what is going on in Zimbabwe?"

But African leaders rarely criticize one of their own. Mugabe regards the United States as the enemy and is unlikely to be influenced by such denunciations.

On Thursday, South Africa issued its strongest call yet for Zimbabwe's government to release the election results. "When elections are held and results are not released two weeks after, it is obviously of great concern. The situation is dire," government spokesman Themba Maseko said.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was appointed last year by a regional grouping to mediate between Tsvangirai and Mugabe, has insisted on quiet diplomacy, maintaining that Mugabe will not respond to a confrontational approach. Mbeki has been widely criticized for saying last weekend that Zimbabwe was not in crisis.

At a news conference Thursday, Tsvangirai called Mbeki's comments disappointing. He thanked the South African leader for his mediation efforts so far, but said it was time for him to step aside as an intermediary.

Tsvangirai called for Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who has been critical of Mugabe, to take over mediation.

In his struggle for democracy, Tsvangirai has survived three assassination attempts, including one in 1997 by unidentified assailants who tried to throw him from a 10th-floor window of the Zimbabwean trade union congress' headquarters.

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In 2003, after an 18-month trial, Tsvangirai was acquitted of treason in a case stemming from an alleged plot to assassinate Mugabe.

Treason carries the death penalty in Zimbabwe, so the renewed treason allegations against Tsvangirai in the state-controlled media Thursday were ominous.

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